David Diaz (El Monte Union High School District, California)
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David Diaz is an at-large representative on the El Monte Union High School District school board in California. Diaz won a first term in the at-large general election on November 7, 2017.
Diaz participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Elections
2017
Three of the five seats on the El Monte Union High School District board of trustees in California were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017.[1] In their bids for re-election, incumbents Esthela Torres De Siegrist and Ricardo Padilla ran against challengers Florencio Briones, David Diaz, Christian Trigueros, and Ron Williams. Padilla won re-election, and Briones and Diaz won the other two seats on the ballot.[2][3]
Results
| El Monte Union High School District, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 David Diaz |
24.45% | 2,991 |
| Ricardo Padilla Incumbent |
24.04% | 2,940 |
| Florencio Briones |
21.27% | 2,602 |
| Esthela Torres De Siegrist Incumbent | 20.56% | 2,515 |
| Ron Williams | 5.92% | 724 |
| Christian Trigueros | 3.75% | 459 |
| Total Votes | 12,231 | |
| Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Local and Municipal Consolidated Elections November 7, 2017," accessed November 21, 2017 | ||
Funding
At the time of this election, the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk did not publish school board candidate campaign finance reports online. Ballotpedia staffers requested this information, but the only free method of viewing the files was at their office.
The Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk targeted the end of 2018 to make school board candidate campaign finance reports available online for free. From that point forward, Ballotpedia began including campaign finance data for Los Angeles County school board candidates.[4][5][6]
Endorsements
Diaz was endorsed by the following organizations and elected officials:[7][8][9][10]
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Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
David Diaz participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[11] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on October 15, 2017:
| “ | If elected, I will:: Identify and examine gaps in our educational system to ensure that opportunities and support systems exist to ensure every student succeeds, regardless of special needs, race, ethnicity, or income Seek to provide support services including nutrition, mental health, and other community resources to foster a safe and healthy learning environment. Strengthen partnerships with parents, students, teachers, and institutions to provide each student with what they need to achieve academically and emotionally to graduate prepared for college, career, or community success.[12][13] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in California. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | If elected, I will:: Identify and examine gaps in our educational system to ensure that opportunities and support systems exist to ensure every student succeeds, regardless of special needs, race, ethnicity, or income Seek to provide support services including nutrition, mental health, and other community resources to foster a safe and healthy learning environment. Strengthen partnerships with parents, students, teachers, and institutions to provide each student with what they need to achieve academically and emotionally to graduate prepared for college, career, or community success.[13] | ” |
| —David Diaz (October 15, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| No. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Offer additional training options. Offer additional training options. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| On an individual basis from a restorative justice lens. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms David Diaz El Monte Union High School District school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- El Monte Union High School District, California
- El Monte Union High School District elections (2017)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registar-Recorder/County Clerk, "List of Offices to Be Filled November 7, 2017," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Candidate List: Local And Municipal Consolidated Elections 11/7/2017," accessed September 18, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Local and Municipal Consolidated Elections," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed July 2, 2014
- ↑ Daniel Anderson, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," October 7, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," January 2, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles County Democratic Party, "Endorsements," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: November 7, 2017 General Election," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ LA Fed, "Voter Guide," accessed October 24, 2017
- ↑ Diaz for El Monte Union High School District 2017, "Endorsements," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "David Diaz's responses," October 15, 2017
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| El Monte Union High School District elections in 2017 | |
| Los Angeles County, California | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Esthela Torres De Siegrist • Incumbent, Ricardo Padilla • Florencio Briones • David Diaz • Christian Trigueros • Ron Williams |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
